“And so this is Christmas and what have you done. Another year over and a new one just begun,” are the words of John Lennon in one of my favorite Christmas songs, called Happy Christmas. This is the time that we look back on the past year and reflect on the changes that we want to make in the coming year. Resolutions usually focus on a small habit or personal change that we would like to make.
Besides the phrase that has almost become a cliché of “my resolution is to not make resolutions,” the top two are to lose weight and to get out of debt. They are very similar in my books, in the sense that everybody knows what to do in both cases - eat more fruits, veggies, and exercise or make regular payments on the credit cards and set aside regular savings. It is reported that most people break their resolutions within a few weeks, because we lack the discipline or the will to take the proper steps.
There will be many articles and stories written in the next week or so with sage advice on how to keep your resolutions, but in my opinion, the whole resolution process is wrongly handled. New Year’s resolutions should not focus on annoying little habits. They should not be broken down into smaller steps with objectives and rewards. They should be general, open and focused on the big picture.
New Year’s resolutions should be things like “I will enjoy life.” It flies in the face of traditional resolution wisdom, because enjoyment is not definable or measurable. All the Type A personalities will struggle with how to achieve it. It is not an easy goal, because as we struggle with the serious issues, remembering to enjoy life may slip out of focus. It is OK to experience the pain but return to the goal of enjoying life as soon as possible. No problem was ever solved or made better by being unhappy.
Imagine living in a place where everyone, when they wake up in the morning, has that simple underlying goal. What if every employee at every store you walked into had the goal of enjoying their life? They would naturally be friendly and happy toward the customers. Of course, the same works in reverse - if every customer had that same goal, they too would be happy and friendly. You can apply the same thinking to almost every situation, schools, workplaces and government offices. Imagine for a moment what life would be like if every single person in the community, province, country and world was committed to enjoying life. It makes me think of another John Lennon line - “Imagine all the people living for today.”
If we all focused on the big picture, I am willing to bet the little things like weight loss and financial security would just naturally fall into place. Since most people fail at the traditional resolutions, what have you got to lose? So join me and make a commitment to simply enjoy life this year.